The adverse effects of formaldehyde have been discussed very emotionally in public. Anatomists, technicians in histology and embalming laboratories, as well as medical students during their dissection course are all exposed to formaldehyde, which in many situations crosses the threshold for irritation of the eyes and upper respiratory tract. There ...

This study tests the premise that laboratories employing medical technologists certified by the Board of Registry of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists (MT[ASCP]) produce more accurate laboratory test results, as measured by the College of American Pathologists proficiency tests. Licensed laboratories in Illinois provided the sample. An accuracy score ...

The evaluation of the patient with alopecia is a multistep process that comprises obtaining a good medical history, performing the clinical examination with a special emphasis on the examination of cut and plucked hair, doing a scalp biopsy, and ordering appropriate laboratory studies. Genetic counseling may be given if it ...

As a result of changing patterns of medical practice, technology, and reimbursement, office-based clinical laboratory testing is increasing substantially. This article reviews current federal and state regulations covering such laboratories and comments upon likely trends in these regulations. Various economic and political issues associated with office-based clinical laboratory regulation are ...

Changes in technology will have a profound impact on specialized reference laboratories. In their research and development efforts, reference laboratories will have to pursue the incorporation of the technologies of molecular and cell biology into clinical practice. Computers can be applied to the management of clinical laboratory data bases and ...

An organized practical approach for the pediatrician to use in evaluating a child with hematuria or proteinuria emphasizes common conditions and stepwise laboratory/radiologic investigations. Additional points of emphasis include when to refer to a pediatric nephrologist or urologist and when to consider renal biopsy. Real case statistics and salient examples ...

A 22-year-old familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) patient was hospitalized for continuous fever, myalgia, hypertension, vertigo and a petechial rash. Laboratory findings revealed hyperglobulinaemia, thrombocytosis and a leukaemoid reaction. While on steroid therapy the patient sustained a haemorrhage into a renal aneurysm which responded to gel foam embolization. After 12 months ...

tetrodotoxin distribution in various tissues of the flatworm Planocera multitentaculata was examined. The oviduct was most toxic (2000-3240 MU/g), followed by digestive organs (900-1400 MU/g), oviduct-free genital organs (430-590 MU/g), etc. The mucus secreted also showed some lethal potency. On the other hand, the eggs laid, whether in laboratory aquarium ...

In a field of bio-medical science, low energy beta-emitting nuclides, such as 3H and 14C, are used frequently. However, contamination with those nuclides on laboratory workers is not detectable by the ordinary hand-foot-cloth monitor, if it occurs. Therefore, a new contamination check method, hand washing combined with lyophilization, was studied ...

We investigated the hypothesis that the increased incidence of malignant melanoma at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) in California was associated with a difference in medical care received by its employees compared with that received by other residents of the same geographic area. From records of the Kaiser Permanente ...

A medical student's introduction to the clinical laboratory often sets the tone for the relationship that will exist between him or her and the laboratory throughout medical practice. As part of the sophomore pathology and laboratory medicine course at the University of South Alabama, Mobile, groups of seven or eight ...

For the purposes of classification, it should be specified whether osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is of unknown origin (idiopathic, primary) or is related to a known medical condition or event (secondary). Clinical criteria for the classification of idiopathic OA of the knee were developed through a multicenter study group. ...

An evaluation of the Sysmex CC-800 hematology analyzer (TOA Medical Electronics, Kobe, Japan, and distributed by American Scientific Products, Chicago, IL) was performed at University Hospital at Boston University Medical Center to assess the analytic performance and ease of use of the instrument. The Sysmex CC-800 is the first self-contained, ...

To investigate the syndrome of acute intravascular hemolytic anemia in the black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis), laboratory techniques used in the differential diagnosis of hemolytic anemias were performed on blood samples from 6 black rhinoceroses: 3 nonrelated healthy rhinoceroses, 1 rhinoceros with iron deficiency anemia, and 2 rhinoceroses with intravascular hemolysis. ...

Office-based clinical laboratories are the least regulated of all laboratories as a result of familiar forces in the politics of the regulation of medicine. This article discusses the evolution of these regulations and summarizes the applicability and intent of federal and state rules. Counterbalancing forces in the present political and ...

Since February 1977, five patients with cholera apparently acquired the infection from the riverine environment in Queensland. A total of 13 rivers have now yielded at least one isolate of Vibrio cholerae 01 biovar El Tor. Investigations indicate that the organism, including toxigenic strains, can survive and multiply in the ...

Electrolytes, BUN, and creatinine are some of the most frequently ordered laboratory tests. The use of these tests in emergency practice has not been studied critically, and few investigations of their use in other disciplines have been performed. A review of the available literature and an analysis of medical problem ...

We report a retrospective study of 282 consecutive patients who had appendectomy for suspected acute appendicitis at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center during a 15-month period. The overall incidence of negative explorations of 7.4% was significantly lower than that reported in the literature, and occurred without a significant ...

Several studies have identified thymidine excess in susceptibility test media as the cause of spurious resistance of various bacteria to sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim. We document the phenomenon in Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi-A and demonstrate its occurrence in 3 of 17 (18%) lots of Mueller-Hinton agars now in use in major medical ...

We present the case of a thirty-eight-year-old woman who developed a febrile illness which was associated with a rise of blood lithium and amitriptyline, and subsequently suffered permanent neurological impairment, implicating CNS dysfunction at several levels. Medical, laboratory, radiological and neuropsychological findings are described, and the attribution of the syndrome ...

The Ames Seralyzer reflectance photometer and disposable reagent strips for the determination of plasma creatinine were evaluated in the laboratory and on a urology ward over a 3-month period. Principles of the instrument used are described, as are details of the evaluation procedures. Reproducibility of results under optimum conditions gave ...

The panel discussion from the perspective of occupational medicine regarding appropriate medical surveillance after a PCB transformer or capacitor incident is reviewed. A thorough occupational medicine history and physical examination is stressed for any worker or other patient who may have been exposed. Appropriate laboratory tests, including complete blood count ...

To establish medically useful guidelines for analytic precision of commonly used clinical laboratory procedures, the authors conducted a mail survey of physicians selected randomly from national lists of specialists. They were asked to review, briefly, outlined clinical problems and select the change in test results that would alter their diagnosis ...

The performance of differential leukocyte counting by 73 technologists and technicians working in 5 different laboratories in a large medical center was evaluated. Good correlation with the reference method was found for neutrophils, normal lymphocytes, and eosinophils. More variability was noted in the estimation of stab neutrophils and variant (atypical) ...

Information required for the medical examination of sport, commercial, and military divers is provided. The paper adheres to an outline format and covers the diver's medical history as well as specific points to look for in the physical and laboratory examination. Numerous disqualifying conditions are listed and they are divided ...

This paper, tries to establish the pluralism within one particular system of medicine, namely the Ayurvedic system. Herein we find not only a multitude of approaches to medical treatment - originating from it's subtle nosological categories. Rather more, the same subtleness in nosology works effectively into the sector of preservation ...

August and Marie Krogh first met in 1904 in the laboratory of Christian Bohr, a well-known Danish physiologist, where August was a teaching assistant and Marie Jørgensen a medical student. August, the oldest son of a brewer in Grenaa, Denmark, had recently obtained his doctorate for his work on respiration ...

The intent of this article is to provide pharmacists with an introduction to the clinical laboratory. As clinical pharmacy services expand, interactions between pharmacists and the laboratory will increase. Laboratory results are an essential tool for pharmacists involved in monitoring drug therapy and adjusting dosing regimens. Laboratory medicine, however, is ...

A microcomputer system for recording and reporting all specimens processed by a routine laboratory of clinical bacteriology is described. The system is based upon two multi-user microcomputers and all functions are carried out within the laboratory by the medical, technical and clerical staff. Data are recorded using visual display units ...

There is a need for improvement of thyrotropin measurements in the clinical laboratory, specifically in the lower portion of the normal range. We cite realistic examples of incorrect, misleading data generated with many thyrotropin kits currently in use and propose a practical laboratory protocol to evaluate the performance of a ...

The medical issues that arise in the isolated environment of a submarine can occasionally be grave. While crewmembers are carefully screened for health problems, they are still susceptible to serious acute illness. Currently, the submarine medical department representative, the hospital corpsman, utilizes a history and physical examination, clinical acumen, and ...

Results of clinical chemistry tests are often initially interpreted by relatively inexperienced junior medical staff, and therefore a major role of clinical chemists is to ensure that their laboratory tests are utilized and interpreted appropriately. The cases described below demonstrate the interaction of a diagnostic problem and clinical inexperience in ...

Substantial data collected from large numbers of accessions, the need for comprehensive reporting of negative as well as positive laboratory findings, and the necessity for obtaining rapid diagnostic correlations prompted the development of a computer based system of accession data management for collection, storage, rapid retrieval, reporting, concording, and administrative ...

In 1980, ASMT-CMU students and alumni established the John C. Lang Memorial Trustee Award for Administration and Management to "recognize outstanding performance in the communication of ideas and information in administration and laboratory management and to encourage individuals to disseminate their information to the profession." Winners of this award are ...

To determine if the unusually high incidence of salmonellosis reported on Guam for several years might be the result of more frequent bacteriologic examination of gastroenteritis/diarrhoea patient stool specimens, a survey of medical clinic and laboratory activities was undertaken among countries in the Pacific Basin Area. Survey results suggest that ...

The recent opening of an official register for medical laboratory scientists in South Africa has prompted an examination of the professional role, training and qualification of one particular group of scientists, namely clinical chemists working in hospital pathology departments. Lack of recognition of the potential contribution of these non-medical graduates ...

This paper reviews the pertinent presenting features (clinical and laboratory) in the myeloid and lymphocytic leukemias, with emphasis on findings in the blood smear. Cell counts and their diagnostic significance are discussed. Data reported are derived from a study of patients seen at the University of Rochester Medical Center between ...

Medical referrals represent a recruitment source with a relatively low volume of initial contacts and entries and a high ratio of entries to initial contacts, while referrals from clinical laboratories comprise a relatively moderate volume of initial contacts, a low volume of entries and a moderate ratio of entries to ...

After years of review by all of the CAP resource and other committees and councils, the Commission on Laboratory Accreditation developed a revised Standards for Accreditation of Medical Laboratories (Last revision, 1974). They were approved by the House of Delegates and, in the February issue of Pathologist '82, comments were ...

"League tables", ordered by potential cost of biochemical laboratory tests requested, were distributed at four-week intervals to all medical specialists of a 500-bed tertiary care teaching hospital, Flinders Medical Centre, Adelaide, in an attempt to reduce the workload of the laboratory. This information feedback did not appear to have any ...

A report on the research program of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases on Medical Defense Against Biological Agent (U) for Fiscal Year 1982 is presented. The formal mission tasking USAMRIID reads as follows: Perform studies on the pathogenesis, diagnosis, prophylaxis, treatment, and epidemiology of naturally occurring ...

Authorship of a scientific article should imply expertise on its content and thorough knowledge of the investigation reported. Because the number of authors per article has dramatically increased, I question whether these criteria for authorship are applied. Another explanation for this increase is that authors add names to the byline ...

Several laboratories have reported that dynorphin and vasopressin may be present in the same neurons and released together in a fixed ratio. In this study, we report that vasopressin and dynorphin can regulate morphine-induced analgesia in the mouse tail-flick test. Its action is opposite that observed for dynorphin because, when ...

This paper traces the historical development of the practice of clinical biochemistry in Singapore and presents the current status of the special branch of laboratory medicine in the country. The rapid expansion in the field which has taken place over the last three decades, has no parallel in any other ...

The need for well-trained personnel in the medical laboratory setting has created a job market for those persons trained as medical technologists. Medical laboratory technicians and certified laboratory assistants have also taken advantage of the job market and have gained employment in the clinical laboratory. Over a period of years ...

During 1979 and 1980, rations containing high concentrations of gypsum or other sulfate salts were noticed to be a common feature of several episodes of polioencephalomalacia (PEM) diagnosed at the University of Missouri-Columbia Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (VMDL). A retrospective study of 72 herds represented by all 6- to 18-month-old ...

A formulation comprised of commercially available potato flakes, glucose, and agar provides a medium which is inexpensive, is easily prepared, and is particularly useful for the identification of mold fungi encountered in the clinical mycology laboratory. The inclusion of appropriate antimicrobial agents results in a selective medium effective in the ...

There has been a large increase in the number of persons employed in medical laboratories in the last 25 years. These workers are exposed to a variety of infective agents in the course of their work, the most important being Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Salmonella typhi, Brucella spp., and serum hepatitis virus. ...

The efficacy and tolerance of alpha-[4-(1,1-dimethylethyl)phenyl]-4-(hydroxydiphenylmethyl)-1- piperidinebutanol (terfenadine, RMI 9918, Triludan, Teldane, resp.) 60 mg b.i.d. were investigated in 25 patients in an open clinical trial lasting six months. Terfenadine was applied prophylactically against seasonal allergic rhinitis. Terfenadine produced no change in body functions or laboratory values (heart rate, respiratory ...

Attempting to reduce the number of unnecessary tests requested, we initiated a program providing continuous feedback to clinicians concerning their requesting patterns of clinical biochemistry laboratory tests. At four-week intervals each medical specialist received data showing the number and costs of tests requested by all members of his team, the ...